For more than two decades, French photographer Agathe Poupeney, a member of Divergences Images and a Fujifilm ambassador, has been a quiet but essential witness to the world of opera and dance, with assignments at the Paris Opera or the Palace of Versailles. Relying on tools like DxO PhotoLab 9 to refine her images, she captures performers with a sensitivity that feels both invisible and indispensable. Though striking in appearance — instantly recognizable with her long red hair — colleagues say she has the rare ability to disappear into the fabric of rehearsal studios and stages.
DxO PhotoLab 9
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“During rehearsals, I’d sometimes forget she was even there,” recalls étoile dancer Stéphane Bullion. “And then later I would see the images — full of emotion, taken from angles I never noticed. Her photos seem alive, as if the movement continues inside them.”
Agathe’s artistry lies in her sensitivity to performers and her instinct for timing. She often works in near-darkness, navigating the challenges of mirrors, low light, and fleeting gestures. Yet her images consistently reveal the tension, rhythm, and grace of live performance. Whether in the grand halls of the Paris Opera or in the intimacy of a rehearsal room, she strives to translate not just what is seen, but what is felt.
The emotion of live performance
Agathe describes her goal simply: to be faithful to the emotion of the stage. She times her shutter to the rhythm of the music, anticipating the “temps forts” that give choreography its pulse. Her black-and-white images are known for their depth and contrast, while her color work uses careful chromatic choices to elevate rehearsal scenes into something luminous and theatrical.
Discretion and trust are central to her practice. She greets dancers warmly at the start of a project, then fades into invisibility, letting them forget the presence of her camera. This, she says, is what allows her to capture the fragile, in-between moments that define live performance.
Tools that support creativity
Behind this poetic approach lies a pragmatic challenge: photographing dance means working with difficult light and extremely high ISOs. Agathe often shoots at ISO 12,800 to freeze movement without losing atmosphere. For her, DxO PhotoLab is more than software — it is the tool that allows her to honor the stage as she experienced it.
“PhotoLab frees me from technical limits,” she explains. “I can now capture scenes that were once impossible. The noise reduction, the optical corrections, the ability to manage light so precisely — it gives me freedom and confidence. I can focus on the story, not the constraints.”
The arrival of AI Masks in DxO PhotoLab 9 has been especially transformative. Where she once spent hours manually balancing spotlit dancers against dark sets, she can now make instant selections, apply her presets, and deliver finished images within hours — essential when clients expect dozens of photos the same night.
DxO’s pursuit of image excellence
Agathe’s reliance on PhotoLab reflects DxO’s long history of giving photographers tools that elevate their craft. Since 2003, DxO’s imaging scientists have developed pioneering technologies such as DeepPRIME denoising, DxO Modules with lab-measured camera and lens profiles, and now AI-powered masking. The result is editing software that combines scientific precision with creative freedom.
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A new era with DxO PhotoLab 9
The launch of DxO PhotoLab 9 marks the next step in this evolution. With advanced AI Masks, local adjustments for denoising and sharpening, smarter workflow features like batch renaming, and expanded file support, it offers photographers the most powerful end-to-end RAW editing environment available today.
For Agathe, it simply means she can keep pace with the art she loves most: the fleeting energy of live performance. “Good tools open doors,” she says. “They let you dare more, create more, and capture the beauty of the moment.”
Buy DxO PhotoLab 9 today and save 20%
To celebrate the launch of DxO PhotoLab 9, Blind is offering its readers 20% off until the end of October with the code BLIND. After that, it’s 15% off.
Head to the DxO Shop and use the code BLIND at checkout.
Or try DxO PhotoLab 9 for free and for 30 days — no payment details required.
Agathe Poupeney’s new photobook, OPERA(S): Art total, will be published in October and is available now to pre-order.
